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The first time I heard Tom Sawyer, I was a junior in high school. I was at a rock themed bar and they played the video for that song on the big screen. All my friends were like..."Is that a ****in guy or girl? ****in weird" but I was really enjoying the song. I went out and got their greatest hits the next day.

Janszoon, Moving Pictures sounds like what Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads was for me. That album just seeped right into my brain and I still pick out the bits of music I enjoy that remind of it.

The first time I heard Tom Sawyer, I was a junior in high school. I was at a rock themed bar and they played the video for that song on the big screen. All my friends were like..."Is that a ****in guy or girl? ****in weird" but I was really enjoying the song. I went out and got their greatest hits the next day.

Janszoon, Moving Pictures sounds like what Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads was for me. That album just seeped right into my brain and I still pick out the bits of music I enjoy that remind of it.

Stop Making Sense is a hell of an album. Quite a bit better than Moving Pictures IMO, so I envy you there I guess.

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Originally Posted by P A N

i'm not gonna spend my life on music banter trying to convince people the earth is flat.

Resurrect the old thread from the summer. Really was hoping you'd finish b/c it's kind of a cliffhanger. If you won't I will. I'm loving a reason to re-listen to my favorite Test For Echo. Snakes and Arrows as well...

So I ended up being in a writing mood tonight. I was also in the mood for some Rush. Review time.

Another four albums down, another live album. Not only is “Exit…Stage Left” my favorite live album from the band, it also caps off my favorite era. After this, Rush head straight into the plastic overproduction of the mid 80’s. This gives us one last chance to enjoy those humbuckers and the warmth of acoustic drums (I can handle a lot of what Rush put out in the mid 80’s, but Neil using electric drums is sacrilege).

The great thing about this album is that it’s not just songs from their studio albums slapped together from live shows. There was a lot of thought put into the flow of the whole thing. A couple songs from their first four albums are sprinkled throughout for flavor. “Spirit of Radio” will always be a no contest album opener. If that song is on any album, it’s going to be the first track. If it’s not, someone screwed up. If you’ve listened to their albums, you know the songs that follow are going to be awesome. I’ve always felt Rush had just the right balance of live flare (drum solos, minor screw ups, and a really immediate energy) and studio like precision. It’s also great to hear that they’ve all improved since their last live album (though I’m sure more pricey equipment helps). An excellent “La Villa Strangiato” closes out the album leaving you wanting more. This album is nothing but pure Rush satisfaction. 10/10

I really respect Rush for not looking behind. They have consistently moved forward. There are many bands out there that have tried to change their sound to fit the current trends. Most of them just end up sounding stale and uninspired. Rush has given me the impression that they simply “absorb” those trends and experiment with it in their own right. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. On their next album, “Signals”, they take a real interest in the synthesizer trend. Later in the nineties they get more aggressive (obviously because of grunge). All the while never revisiting things they have already mastered.

“A Passage to Bangkok” just came on. Time to spark up the fragrance of Afghanistan…

The beginning of Rush phase 3. If you didn’t hear the slow increase in the use of synthesizers over the last few albums, you must not have been paying attention. Many fans don’t like their mid 80’s output, but to be honest this sound was inevitable. It definitely wasn’t an overnight decision to use such heavy production. Personally, I think they started off quite strong. Signals does use a load of synth, but it somehow manages to keep that Rush feel and it gives us some classics.

“Subdivisions” is a great opener and is a concert mainstay to this day. It is also an indication of things to come for Alex Lifeson. Sadly, this phase of the band really suppresses his guitar playing. We all know by now how talented he is, and in my opinion his open chord style of playing would not have overpowered the songs had they beefed up his parts just a little. Still, I give him credit for modesty. And in all honesty, the songs are still really good. “The Analog Kid” shows off some decent guitar playing, “Chemistry” is unique in that it is one of the few songs Alex and Geddy wrote the lyrics for, “The Weapon” continues the Fear saga, and “New World Man” became Rush’s highest charting single. All in all, there is really very little complain about but there is just something about that production…

Rush seems to like exploring new styles with a couple albums before moving on. Their next album Grace Under Pressure has a sound nearly identical to Signals and after that we get dosed with even more synthesized production power. Ah, sadly the classic days of Rush are over but why would we want them to retread old ideas? What lies ahead are albums for those who are already fans of the band, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. They still manage to write some incredible music. Their albums just become a bit more tiresome to get through to find those songs.

Great yet overproduced music plus a completely horrendous album cover gives this album an 8/10. Not too shabby!